Difference between revisions of "Adramyttium"

<p> <span> Adramyt'tium. </span> [[Named]] from <span> Adramys </span> , brother of Croesus, king of Lydia, a seaport in the province of Asia, <span> see </span> <a> [[Asia]] </a> <span> , </span> situated on a bay of the [[Aegean]] Sea, about 70 miles north of Smyrna, in the district anciently called Aeolis, and also Mysia. [[See]] <span> Acts 16:7 </span> . <span> See </span> <a> [[Mitylene]] </a> <span> . </span> <span> Acts 27:2 </span> . The modern <span> Adramyti </span> is a poor village. </p>

<p> <translit> ad </translit> - <translit> ra </translit> - <translit> mit´i </translit> - <translit> um </translit> ( <span> Ἀδραμύττιον </span> , <i> <translit> Adramúttion </translit> </i> ; for other forms see Thayer's lexicon): An ancient city of [[Mysia]] in the [[Roman]] [[Province]] of Asia. The only reference in the New [[Testament]] to it is in <span> Acts 27:2 </span> which says that Paul, while being taken a prisoner from [[Caesarea]] to Rome, embarked upon a ship belonging to Adramyttium. </p> <p> The city, with a good harbor, stood at the head of the [[Gulf]] of [[Adramyttium]] facing the island of Lesbos, and at the base of Mt. Ida. Its early history is obscure. While some authors fancy that it was the Pedasus of Homer, others suppose that it was founded by Adramys, the brother of the wealthy Croesus; probably a small [[Athenian]] colony existed there long before the time of Adramys. When [[Pergamus]] became the capital of Asia, Adramyttium grew to be a city of considerable importance, and the metropolis of the Northwest part of the province. There the assizes were held. The coins which the peasants pick up in the surrounding fields, and which are frequently aids in determining the location and history of the cities of [[Asia]] Minor, were struck at Adramyttium as late as the 3rd century ad, and sometimes in connection with Ephesus. [[Upon]] them the effigies of [[Castor]] and [[Pollux]] appear, showing that Adramyttium was the seat of worship of these deities. </p> <p> The ancient city with its harbor has entirely disappeared, but on a hill, somewhat farther inland, is a village of about one thousand houses bearing the name Edremid, a corruption of the ancient name Adramys. The miserable wooden huts occupied by [[Greek]] fishermen and by Turks are surrounded by vineyards and olive trees, hence the chief trade is in olive oil, raisins and timber. [[In]] ancient times Adramyttium was noted for a special ointment which was prepared there (Pliny, <i> NH </i> , xiii.2.5). </p>

<p> ( <span> Ἀδραμύττιον </span> or <span> Ἀδραμύττειον </span> [also <span> Ἀτραμύττιον </span> <span> , </span> see Poppo <span> ’ </span> s <span> Thucyd. </span> 2, 441 sq.; and <span> Adramytteos, </span> Pliny 5:32], in the N.T. only in the adj. <span> Ἀδραμυττηνός </span> , Adramyttene), a city of [[Asia]] Minor, on the coast of Mysia, ( <span> A </span> Eolis, according to Mela, 1, 18), and at the head of an extensive bay (Sinus Adramyttenus) facing the island of [[Lesbos]] and at the foot of [[Mount]] Ida. (See <a> MITYLENE </a> ). [[Strabo]] (13, p. 606) and [[Herodotus]] (7, 42) make it an [[Athenian]] colony (comp. Pausan. 4, 27,5; Xenoph. <span> Anab. </span> 7:8, 8; Livy, 37:19). Stephanus Byzantinus follows Aristotle, and mentions Adramys, the brother of Croesus, as its founder (hence the name). This last is more probably the true account, especially as an adjacent district bore the name of Lydia. According, however, to [[Eustathius]] and other commentators, the place existed before the [[Trojan]] war, and was no other than the Pedasus of [[Homer]] (Pliny 5:33). [[Thucydides]] (5:1; 8:108) also mentions a settlement made here by those inhabitants of [[Delos]] who had been expelled by the Athenians, B.C. 422. The city became a place of importance under the kings of Pergamus, and continued so in the time of the [[Roman]] power, although it suffered severely during the war with [[Mithridates]] (Strabo, 605). Under the [[Romans]] it was the seat of the Conventus Juridicus for the province of Asia (q.v.), i.e. the court-town of the district (Pliny, 5:32). It is mentioned in [[Scripture]] only ( <span> Acts 27:2 </span> ) from the fact that the ship in which [[Paul]] embarked at [[Caesarea]] as a prisoner on his way to Italy, belonged to [[Adramyttium]] ( <span> πλο </span> <span> ‹ </span> <span> ον </span> <span> Ἀδραμυττηνόν </span> v. r. <span> Ἀτραμυτηνόν </span> , see Wetstein in loc.). It was rare to find a vessel going direct from [[Palestine]] to Italy. The usual course, therefore, was to embark in some ship bound to one of the ports of Asia Minor, and there go on board a vessel sailing for Italy. This was the course taken by the centurion who had charge of Paul. [[Ships]] of Adramyttium must have been frequent on this coast, for it was a place of considerable traffic. It lay on the great Roman road between Assos, Troas, and the [[Hellespont]] on one side, and Pergamus, Ephesus, and [[Miletus]] on the other, and was connected by similar roads with the interior of the country. The ship of Adramyttium took them to Myra, in Lycia, and here they embarked in an [[Alexandrian]] vessel bound for [[Italy]] (see Conybeare and Howson, [[Life]] of St. Paul, 2, 310). Some commentators (Hammond, Grotius, Witsius, etc.) strangely suppose that Adrametum (see Tzchucke, ad Mel. 1, 7, 2) in [[Africa]] (Pliny 5:3; Ptolmy 4:3; Appian, Syr. 33:47; comp. Shaw, Trav. p. 96 sq.) was the port to which the ship belonged. Adramyttium is still called Edramit or Adramiti (Fellows, Asia Minor, p. 39; comp. Pococke, Trav. II, 2, 16). It is built on a hill, contains about 1000 houses, and is still a place of some commerce (Turner, Tour, 3, 265). The general appearance of the place, however, is poor, the houses being meanly built, and inhabited principally by [[Greek]] fishermen (Buisching, Erdbesch. 5, 1, 91). From medals struck in this town, it appears that it celebrated the worship of [[Castor]] and [[Pollux]] ( <span> Acts 28:11 </span> ), as also that of [[Jupiter]] and [[Minerva]] (whose effigies appear in the preceding cut). </p>